Shed Seven

Introduction

This much maligned indie rock band from York, England comprises Rick Witter (lead vocals), Tom Gladwin (bass), Paul Banks (who replaced original guitarist Joe Johnson in 1993 (Joe later rejoined in early 2000 when Banks quit in late 1999)) and Alan Leach (drums) (Part-time keyboardist Fraser Smith became a full time member of the group when Joe Johnson rejoined in 2000). Together they brought a flash of domesticity and anti-glamour to the independent scene of the mid-90s – their interests including slot machines, bad television (Banks allegedly writes songs while watching Prisoner Cell Block H) and cheap alcohol. There was a refreshingly parochial atmosphere to their profile – best symbolized by the fact that Leach is the husband of Witter's sister – despite the fact that their primary influences included Happy Mondays and Stone Roses.

The only hint of celebrity, aside from Witter once coming second in a karaoke competition in Cyprus, involved their vocalist's dalliance with Donna Matthews from Elastica. However, as their recorded output demonstrated, and many critics suggested, it remained a thin line between level-headedness and mundanity. To their credit, Shed Seven were unconcerned with the trappings of cool, happily signing to a major, Polydor Records, and making their debut with "Mark": "We chose to put Polydor on the middle of our records – like the Who and the Jam, two of the best British bands ever. That's what we aspire to, not to some crap indie credibility'.

Beginners Guide

Name: Shed Seven

Otherwise known as: Shed 7

Named after: A York railway shed

Formed: York, 1990

Personnel: Rick Witter, singer, lyricist; Tom Gladwin, bassist; Alan Leach, drummer; Paul Banks, guitarist, songwriter; Joe Johnson, guitarist, songwriter; Fraser Smith, keyboards, songwriter. Witter, Banks, Gladwin attended Huntington Comprehensive School; Leach, Burnholme. Witter and Banks first played in band ENAM, performing to German exchange students in Paul's front room

Radio debut: Hit The North, BBC Radio 5, playing five songs live, September 22 1993

TV debut: East Coast Main Line, Tyne Tees, August 1993

Local history part one: In his former job, Rick stacked supermarket shelves

Local history part two: Band twice entered Fibbers/Evening Press Battle Of The Bands; twice failed to win. Earlier, Witter had come second in a karaoke competition in Cyprus

Getting better: In September 1993, they were voted third best live band at London's Inner City Festival; first time a band not signed to a label had done so well

What happened next?: Signed six-album deal with Polydor Records for six-figure sum in November 1993. Recording contract ran to 47 pages. Band celebrated signing by playing free gig at Bay Horse, Gillygate

Debut single: Mark/Casino Girl, double A-side, released March 7, 1994. Didn't chart

First hit: Second single, Dolphin, released June 13 1994. Charted at number 28 with 15,000 sales in first week; first York band to make charts since The Mood reached number 42 with Paris Is One Day Away in May 1982

Start of the backlash: John Mulvey, NME, reviewing third single Speakeasy in August 1994, wrote: "Four clumsy blokes trying to come over all sensuous, fragile and complex. Ham-fisted, circling elaborations in a doomed search for a song." NME never featured the Sheds on its cover; now defunct Melody Maker, did so only once.

Collector's item: Continental-only CD, Six By Seven, released summer 1994

Big In Thailand: Sheds pipped London wideboys East 17 to Thailand's Christmas number one spot, 1994. Thais had habit of presenting Witter with boxes of Coco Pops; band received first gold disc for 40,000 Far Eastern sales of Change Giver

Glastonbury Festival debut: June 1995

Chart high point: Going For Gold entered singles chart at number eight on March 17 1996, outselling pop queen Madonna's new entry One More Chance that week.

Hit singles: Dolphin, Speakeasy, Ocean Pie, 1994; Where Have You Been Tonight?, 1995; Getting Better, Going For Gold, Bully Boy, On Standby, Chasing Rainbows, 1996; She Left Me On Friday, The Heroes, Devil In Your Shoes, 1998; Disco Down, 1999; Cry For Help, 2001; Why Can't I Be You, 2003

Impressive chart statistic: With five Top 40 entries in 1996, the Sheds had more hit singles than any other act that year. Thirteen-date autumn tour that year totally sold out, including their York Barbican Centre debut, not before time after ten hits.

Strange chart statistic: After every Shed Seven appearance on Top Of The Pops, the single went down in the charts the next week! First performed on TOTP on June 23 1994 (Dolphin)

Albums: Change Giver (Polydor), 1994; A Maximum High (Polydor), 1996, Let It Ride (Polydor), 1998; Going For Gold, The Best Of (Polydor), 1999; Truth Be Told (Artful), 2001; Where Have You Been Tonight? Live (Taste), 2003

Album pinnacle: A Maximum High sold 250,000 copies in Britain alone

Video: Go And Get Stuffed (Polygram Music Video), promo videos, live recordings, backstage tour footage, April 1997

DVD: See Youse At The Barras, Live In Concert (Secret Films), 2003, filmed at Barrowlands, Glasgow

Shed Seven cover versions: Wired For Sound (Cliff Richard); Can I Play With Madness (Iron Maiden Cover played once live); Man in A Cornershop (The Jam); Rolling Stones' Jumping Jack Flash, played on TFI Friday, Channel 4; David Bowie's Jean Genie, B-side on Step Inside Your Love; One Way or Another (Blondie); I'm Bored by Iggy Pop; The Who's The Seeker, latter-day live favourite

Champions of their cause: In the early days and ever since, Fibbers in York; at their peak, Chris Evans, inviting them to make two appearances inside a month on his TFI Friday show on Channel 4; constant supporter, Radio 1's Chris Moyles

Villains of the piece: Polydor, for forcing a greatest hits upon the Sheds to engineer the band's exit in 1999; Artful Records, for turning Step Inside Your Love from single with two CD formats into four-track EP, scuppering its chances of charting under chart regulations; BBC Radio One, for refusing to play-list them since their Polydor days; Taste label, for – in Rick's words – demanding another big hit before releasing latest Shed Seven album, ready and complete and now gathering dust

Going: Band leaves Polydor, 1999. Guitarist Paul Banks leaves by mutual discontent; in come original guitarist Joe Johnson and former University of York student Fraser Smith, on keyboards

Going: Dissatisfied with lack of promotional support and frustrated by delayed releases, Sheds quit Artful label and sign with Taste, 2003, entering charts at number 23 with Why Can't I Be You.

Gone: Sheds lose patience with Taste holding back fifth studio album release, scheduled for September 2003. Split announced on Sheds' website, November 23. "It isn't the end of the world, but right now it feels like it," says Rick

Fitting epitaph: "Much maligned indie band from York, England. Brought a flash of domesticity and anti-glamour to the independent scene of the mid-Nineties...with a refreshingly parochial atmosphere to their profile". Colin Larkin, The Virgin Encyclopedia Of Nineties Music Ill-fitting epitaph: "Forever doomed to be the Leicester City of Britpop." Caspar Llewellyn Smith, Sunday Telegraph, at Sheds' 1996 peak.

External Links

Fan site Magic Streets [1]